Fairlie was born in Glasgow on 5 April 1830 according to Geoffrey
Hughes in his Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography entry. He was the son of T. Archibald Fairlie (an engineer)
and Margaret Fairlie. Ransom
observed that the former DNB entry was inaccurate and relied upon
the Archives of the Festiniog Railway. Fairlie trained at Crewe and Swindon,
then joined first the Londonderry
& Coleraine Railway as Locomotive Superintendent in 1852, and then
the Bombay, Baroda & Central India Railway in 1856. He returned to England
as a Consulting Engineer and joined the Honourable Artillery Company in 1859.
In 1862 he was involved in a Court Case relating to his marriage license
to Eliza Anna England, daughter of George England, with
whom he had eloped, but the case collapsed as Eliza had been born out of
wedlock.

In 1864 Fairlie filed his patent (1210 13 May 1864 which Dewhurst
described as the master patent) for what would later be known as the Fairlie
locomotive. Dewhurst notes that John Cockerell of Belgium had anticipated
the type with its Seraing. This was an articulated locomotive intended
mainly for hauling heavy loads on twisting narrow-gauge railways. The first
unit Pioneer was built in 1865 by James Cross
& Co.for the Neath & Brecon Railway and had two pivoting power
bogies and two boilers back-to-back (with smokebox and chimney at each end
of the locomotive, a single firebox at the centre, around which was built
the cab). This was the typical Fairlie 'double-ender', although single-boiler
and other variants later appeared. Cross built another Fairlie for the Anglesey
Central Railway known as Mountaineer. In the USA, Mason built his
own version.

The Hatcham Ironworks became the Fairlie Engine & Steam Carriage
Co. in September 1869, but ceased locomotive manufacture at the end of 1870.
The Festiniog Railway obtained an 0-4-4-0 Little Wonder from there
in 1868.

Fairlie was a great propagandist an engineers from as far away as
Russia went to see his Little Wonder at work on the Festiniog Railway
in Wales in 1870 (this railway still has Fairlie machines in service). The
apparent potential of the idea boosted the construction of narrow-gauge lines
throughout the world, and by 1876 forty three railways operated these
locomotives. In general though, results were disappointing, only those units
put to work m the Caucasus and in Mexico appearing to give long-term
satisfaction. While the system provided a flexible coupled wheelbase, and
freedom to include a large well-ventilated firebox, the flexible joints of
the steam pipes tended to leak and the locomotives could only be safely used
at low speeds because of overhang and other stability problems. He was taken
ill whilst surveying in Venezuela in 1873/4. He died in London on 31 July
1885 (Marshall and Hughes).

Ransom observes that Robert Fairlie's character was more complex [than
that of Spooner], and full of contradictions  at least, one supposes
so for, although he was a great self-publicist in matters of business, he
seems otherwise to have been most reticent. An ebullient, flamboyant person,
he appears also to have been terribly prickly  anyone criticising him
in the press could be sure of a vigorous letter to the editor in response.
On occasion he could clearly charm the birds off the trees. Zerah Colburn
became a complete convert. In Engineering Fairlie could do no wrong,
even though the proposals of other engineers, such as Engerth, were rubbished.
Yet it is evident that Fairlie could also rub people up the wrong way, and...
make enemies. Scribner's Monthly in 1879 described him as 'an
indefatigable controversialist'.

Some of Fairlie's ideas were very much constrained by the conventions
of their period  those on part-loaded wagons for instance. Others were
perceptive  he became the first British engineer to appreciate the
value of Walschaerts valve gear, ignored in Britain ever since its first
use in Belgium in 1848. Others again were way ahead of their time. His concept
of making locomotives double-ended and mounting them on bogies became
conventional only with widespread adoption of electric and diesel
power.

Ransom gives an extensive account of the Russian delegation's visit
to the Festiniog Railway.

James Spooner (born in 1789 and died in Porthmadog on 18 August 1856),
his son Charles Easton Spooner (born Maentwrog in 1818 and died in Porthmadog
on 18 November 1889) and his son George Percival Spooner, born in
Beddgelert on 13 June 1850 (died in London
21 January 1917 (Marshall)), were closely associated with the engineering
(both civil and mechanical) and management of the Festiniog Railway. The
last-named Spooner was responsible (according to Weaver) for the design of
the Fairlie locomotives. He went to India in 1879 and on return to England
in 1894 he occupied himself with the construction of scientific instruments
and organ building. By 1850, James Spooner had already laid heavier rails,
suitable for steam locomotives and George England
and Co. manufactured four steam locomotives delivered from the 18th July
1863. These were Mountaineer, The Princess, The Prince
and Lord Palmerston.

Ransom, when comparing Fairlie with Spooner, noted that Charles Spooner's
character was the more solid of the two: the one-time horse-tramroad engineer
who, by advancing step by step, transformed his charge into a small-scale
steam main line. He showed more than professional skill in his work, noted
Engineering on 27th December 1872, 'he shows an earnestness and
enthusiasm, we may almost say an absolute devotion for the Festiniog Railway'.
More than that, he became famous for his willingness to share his experience
with others.